An American Heroine in the French Resistance: The Diary and Memoir of Virginia D'Albert-Lake
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This fascinating book tells the remarkable story of an ordinary American woman's heroism in the French Resistance. Virginia Roush fell in love with Philippe d'Albert-Lake during a visit to France in 1936; they married soon after. In 1943, they both joined the Resistance, where Virginia put her life in jeopardy as she sheltered downed airmen and later survived a Nazi prison camp. After the war, she stayed in France with Philippe, and was awarded the Légion d'Honneur and the Medal of Honor. She died in 1997.Judy Barrett Litoff brings together two rare documents-Virginia's diary of wartime France until her capture in 1944 and her prison memoir written immediately after the war. Masterfully edited, they convey the compassion and toughness of a nearly forgotten heroine as they provide an invaluable record of the workings of the Resistance by one of the very few American women who participated in it. "An indelible portrait of extraordinary strength of character...[D'Albert-Lake] is sombre, reflective, and attentive to every detail."-The New Yorker"A sharply etched and moving story of love, companionship, commitment,and sacrifice..This beautifully edited diary and memoir throw an original light on the French Resistance."-Robert Gildea, author of Marianne in Chains: In Search of the German Occupation, 1940-1945"At once a stunning self-portrait and dramatic narrative of a valorous young American woman.. an exciting and gripping story, one of the best of the many wartime tales."-Walter Cronkite"An enthralling tale which brims with brave airmen and plucky heroines."-David Kirby, St. Petersburg Times The New Yorker In 1937, Virginia Roush, a strong-minded young woman from St. Petersburg, Florida, married a Frenchman, becoming Virginia d’Albert-Lake, and moved to Paris. During the war, she kept a diary, including almost larkish reports of her Resistance work. Part of an escape line that smuggled downed Allied airmen out of the country, she took them on secret sightseeing tours of Paris. In June, 1944, she was arrested by the Germans and sent to a sequence of concentration camps that included three spells in Ravensbrück. (The third time she was transferred from Ravensbrück, she weighed seventy-six pounds.) This book, comprising a diary written before her capture and a memoir written after her liberation, is an indelible portrait of extraordinary strength of character. In the diary she seems naïve and spirited; in the memoir she is sombre, reflective, and attentive to every detail.
Acknowledgments viiEditor's Note ixIntroduction: Women and the French Resistance: The Story of Virginia d'Albert-Lake Judy Barrett Litoff xiRemembering My Mother Patrick d'Albert-Lake xxxvThe Diary, October 11, 1939-April 1944Outbreak of War to the Fall of France, October 11, 1939-June 23, 1940 3Life after the Fall of France, June 24, 1940-August 29, 1940 50Life after the Fall of France, September 1940-April 1944 75The Memoir, "My Story"Working for Comet Escape Line and Arrest, Fall 1943-June 14, 1944 91Imprisonment at Fresnes and Romainville, June 15, 1944-August 15, 1944 119Deportation to Ravensbruck, August 15, 1944-August 22, 1944 142Internment at Ravensbruck and Torgau, August 22, 1944-October 16, 1944 155Internment at Konisgberg, October 16, 1944-February 2, 1945 177Return to Ravensbruck, February 2, 1945-February 28, 1945 209Liebenau, February 28, 1945-Late May 1945 223Epilogue 238Afterword Jim Calio 242Appendixes 247Further Reading 265Index 267
